MOSCOW, January 26. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that Russia has a competitive advantage in the field of cryptocurrency mining.

"Of course, we also have certain competitive advantages, especially in the so-called mining, I mean a surplus of electricity and well-trained personnel available in the country," Putin said at a meeting with the government on Wednesday.

Putin also instructed the government and the Bank of Russia to come to a consensus on the regulation of cryptocurrencies and report on the results. "I have asked both the government and the Central Bank to come to some kind of consensus in the course of discussion and I would ask you to hold this discussion in the near future, and then report on its results," he said.

Putin noted that he is aware of discussions on the topic of cryptocurrencies regulation in Russia. "I am familiar with the discussion underway in this regard; the Bank of Russia is dealing with these matters and regulating these matters," he said.

He drew attention to the fact that the regulator is "not trying to block technical progress" and "takes required measures to implement the state-of-the-art technologies in this area".